The news
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has lost its parliamentary majority for the first time, leading to what is likely to be a fortnight of uncertainty and tense negotiations with rival parties to form a coalition government.
It marks the biggest change in the way the country is governed since it came to power after the end of apartheid 30 years ago.
With almost all votes counted, Electoral Commission data showed the ANC had secured just 40% of the vote in Wednesday’s elections. About 99.6% of the votes had been counted on Saturday, but the final results will be officially announced until Sunday.
The party’s inability to secure 50% of the 400 seats in the National Assembly has led to discussions about how a coalition with smaller parties could be formed to form a government. According to the constitution, a new parliament must convene within fourteen days of the announcement of the final results. And the first act of parliament must be the election of the country’s president.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, won 22% of the vote and the populist uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party), formed just six months ago and led by former President Jacob Zuma, stood at 14.6%.
MK told Semafor in an exclusive interview that it would not join a coalition with the ANC if it were led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, or with the DA. The DA leader told Semafor that his party would not join a coalition involving MK or the Marxist-oriented Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which won 9.5% of the vote.
EFF leader Julius Malema told reporters on Saturday that his party was open to coalition talks with all parties. But he said his party would want to ensure it could implement its policies on land redistribution, as well as nationalizing mines and the country’s Reserve Bank. MK had also called for such an approach on land and nationalization.
Knowing more
About 27.7 million people were registered to vote. The turnout was just under 60%, while approximately 16 million people had cast their votes.
The ANC’s reputation was hit by unemployment of around 33%, rising to 45.5% for people aged 15 to 34. Its reputation was further undermined by rising crime rates, corruption scandals and rolling power outages known as ‘load shedding’.
The ANC had won every election since 1994, when Nelson Mandela brought the party to power after the end of white minority rule.
But support for the ANC has declined in recent years, while the number of opposition parties has exploded. The party has seen its support and vote share decline in recent years. In 1994 it won 62.5% of the National Assembly seats. In the last elections, in 2019, it received 57.5% of the votes.
